Memeorandum

February 27, 2012

So What Response Did He Get From The Office Of The First Lady?

Mark Bittman of the Times wants the goverment to regulate sugar, but he apparently doesn't want Michelle Obama to get involved; he concludes with an archetypal liberal-statist plea for help from Mommy and Daddy:

But as obesity and its consequences ravage our health care system, we struggle not only with our own diets but also with preventing our children from falling into the same traps. Last year a brigade of parents stood watch outside a corner store in North Philadelphia in an attempt to prevent their kids from buying junk food.

They’ve been called foot soldiers, but you might call them vigilantes. Vigilantism occurs when people believe the government isn’t doing its job. We need the government on our side. It must acknowledge the dangers caused by the most unhealthy aspects of our diet and figure out how to help us cope with them, because this is the biggest public health challenge facing the developed world.

We need government on our side! But wait - isn't childhood obesity the signature issue of Michelle Obama and her "Let's Move" campaign? So when a prominent Times columnist asked for a reaction and/or a position from Ms. Obama's office, what did they say?

Sorry, I have been hiding the ball - the regulation in question is whether Florida can bar food stampe recipients from buying unhealthy foods such as sweet or salty snacks. Obviously, libs are mostlyoutraged, as are plenty of 'Live free or die' conservatives.

But does anybody think Michelle Obama would support a bill like this? Of course she wouldn't. Does anyone think that she will be criticized by Mr. Bittman or anyone else at the Times for standing in the way of what he would seem to consider progress? Of course not.

In 2004, Gov. Tim Pawlenty tried to make Minnesota's welfare program the first in the country to ban recipients from buying candy with food stamps, but feds didn't go for it. Last year, New York City applied for a waiver to restrict the sale of soda and sugary drinks, but that was also denied.

Well - there was a time when one could argue that most of the costs of obesity are internalized, i.e., borne by the obese person himself. Obviously, that is no longer the case with Medicare and health insurance that cannot discriminate based on lifestyle choices or pre-existing conditions.

Comments

It's all symbolic anyway. Food stamps are essentially cash. Saying they can't be used for something is like saying to an alcoholic "Here's a 100 dollar bill, but you can't use this particular 100 dollar bill on alcohol."

Where I live, food stamps can buy anything except liquor and cigarettes--steak, crabmeat, shrimp,candy, cakes, etc., etc. I don't think the government should restrict people on food stamps from buying candy, cakes, etc., but I watch in amazement at my tiny grocery store when I seen food stamps paying for rib-eye steaks and jumbo lump crab meat and shrimp. Not that I think food-stamp people should not have those things, but I just resent my having to pay for them to have that rather than hamburger and other cheaper groceries.

Well, the Russians seem to be expressing displeasure in their leader. The people shown on TV do not resemble the OWS losers, either.

In a conversation on the street yesterday, a local conservative was questioning the ability of the Tea Party to accomplish anything today. I hope he is wrong and that there will be a mighty clamor for regime change *here* in our country with Tea Party help.

Clinton actually said he didn't like the military. Obama doesn't have to: reason to hit the streets or a big roll-over by the citizenry?

"The Obama administration’s proposed defense budget calls for military families and retirees to pay sharply more for their healthcare, while leaving unionized civilian defense workers’ benefits untouched. The proposal is causing a major rift within the Pentagon, according to U.S. officials. Several congressional aides suggested the move is designed to increase the enrollment in Obamacare’s state-run insurance exchanges."

Despite President Obama and Democrats’ insistence that the rich “pay their fair share,” three-quarters of likely voters believe the nation’s richest should pay lower, not higher, taxes, according to a poll conducted by the Hill.

The Hill reports:

The big majority opted for a lower tax bill when asked to choose specific rates; precisely 75 percent said the right level for top earners was 30 percent or below.

The current rate for top earners is 35 percent. Only 4 percent thought it was appropriate to take 40 percent, which is approximately the level that President Obama is seeking from January 2013 onward.

The Hill poll also found that 73 percent of likely voters believe corporations should pay a lower rate than the current 35 percent, as both the White House and Republicans push plans to lower rates.

I was worried that Act of Valor might suffer the same fate as Atlas Shrugged, but I finally watched Atlas Shrugged this week, and I think it was the producer's and director's fault that it wasn't successful.

It started out too complicated, and they didn't spend time to nail down the theme at the outset. Even people who had read the book and knew the story would have had a hard time warming up to it before at least a half-hour in. They should have made the obvious points early on, even before introducing the characters, but I guess they tried to stay true to the book. Too bad. It's a great story, but I don't blame politics on its failure at the box office.

Driving home from picking Frederick up from school, the last few minutes of Rush was on and Obama's name came up. Frederick told me that Obama is a nice guy but doesn't know how to use the power he has. After picking my chin up off my lap, I asked him how he knew he was a nice man and I was told that "he is son of God like you and me, Dad".

So, I carried on with him regarding what he mean't about not knowing how to use his power. It was Frederick's observation that "everytime he does something it turns out wrong and that Presidents with all the power they have should be doing things right for everyone not just for people you like or people who think your neat."

If you inflate your tires with algae, the friction heat coupled with centrifugal force can create a fermented methane gas that can be siphoned off to power the engine. Let's see if we can get a DOE grant of $100 mil to make it happen.

From the NYT's article on prosecutions of whistle blowers by the Obama Aministration:

"The Obama administration, which promised during its transition to power that it would enhance “whistle-blower laws to protect federal workers,” has been more prone than any administration in history in trying to silence and prosecute federal workers.

The Espionage Act, enacted back in 1917 to punish those who gave aid to our enemies, was used three times in all the prior administrations to bring cases against government officials accused of providing classified information to the media."

Have you noticed how the photos of Her Excellency Michelle Obama are getting rather rare? She is "so popular" all the lefty MFM raves, yet they are being very stingy with pictures of her. Makes you wonder why that is.

Here is the sycophantic PuffHo having to make do with the slim pickings of the White House dinner for Governors - notice in all three photos: the charm, the grace, the poise she exhibits in her glamorous beaded gown. Of course, we cannot see much of it. Wonder why that is?

I believe that Axelplouffe have focus grouped it and fond that while seeing BOzo or The Mooch elicits a 'Get off my lawn!' response, seeing them together elicits a 'Get the hell off my lawn!!' response. They're dragging the kids in to dull the antipathy.

centralcal,
You can really tell she has had some plastic surgery from comparing the last photo & the video still right below it.
I'd hate to be one of her girls....your mom is a food nazi & then what if you are a little chubby? It would be awful. It'll be awful for FLOTUS if she gains some weight too.

Wow, if Meet The Press's David Gregory can make Rick Santorum look like a goofy dufus playing in the wrong league, can you imagine how the Democrats in Congress would make Santorum look if he tried to stand up to them? Not a pretty sight, you betcha. They will eat him alive.

I don't know how much plastic surgery she has had (I am a poor judge of that unless they end up looking like Joan Rivers), but I would certainly say that she has had some "work" done - not nearly enough. Also, indications of botox - however, again not enough, as she is still able to screw up her face and her mouth into all sorts of snarling, angry contortions.

The gals at MOTUS always refer to her "sharpie pen" eyebrows, drawn on way too high up her forehead and, of course, the ubiquitous feather duster false eyelashes. But, hey I am all for skillful and artistically applied makeup for a maturing woman. It is just that hers is a tad over done and not really awfully successful.

For the longest time, I have suspected the sycophantic press is being rather sneaky in the photos they published of her. Perhaps, making a statement visually that they couldn't make in printed words.

So we have the disconnect of the visual images contrasted with the fawning of the printed words.

OT bit -
I've found an old Austin friend that writes a column for Daily Kos. I read a couple & they don't really make sense...I think they are suppose to be funny. Anyway, he wrote one that seemed a little positive about Chris Christie & man-oh-man did the evil locusts come out.
I wonder if there comes a point where a leftist wakes up & thinks...'Oh my gosh, I've joined a cult! I gotta get outta here!'

Janet, Totally agree with you re Michelle's having had surgery--I looked at a pic of her at Obama's swearing in and she looks totally different now. But, when did she have it done? I know it takes about 4-6 weeks to recover. Has she ever been out of the news for that long? Must check. Also, I, too, feel so sorry for the girls. How horrible for them to know that their mother, at one time, took them to the pediatrician to check their fat index. What a shame! Also, Michelle will not gain weight if she exercises, as she says, 1 1/2 hrs. a day.

I am so with you, Iggy, about drawn on eyebrows. There have been a multitude of written words about how she plucked them into pointed arches that made her look "angry," so the idea was to soften the arch into a more pleasant frame for her eyes.

I would say "fail" - like everything the Obamas do.

BTW, I was away most of the weekend, but did check in briefly a time or two to try and stay abreast of the many threads. Such an utterly lovely photograph of Mrs. Iggy becoming, well, Mrs. Iggy. Truly a wonderful capturing of a moment in time and the feelings of that special moment.

"The White House press secretary told members of the press pool aboard Air Force One today that President Obama’s “sincere” apology to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for a Koran-burning incident “is not appropriate to show” to reporters."

Her nose change is more than makeup IMO. I just cannot figure out when she had it done. When I looked at the pic of Michelle at the swearing in, her nose is totally different. Are we paying for the plastic surgery? Heehee, maybe.

Was standing in the Elevator as the door opened on the Lobby floor. In walks an American couple, @ late 20's early 30's, and walking in with them is their brand new adopted Chinese girl daughter. She's very cutely dressed, I'd guess 2 years old max, and she looks at me sort of dumbfounded, and I see she has a cleft lip, but I am able to detect a smile.

That unexpected encounter just about turned on my tears spigot, if I was able to cry. It was so wonderful a moment. Only rode with them to the 7th floor, but I was teary eyed smiling and giggling at her, and her parents were beaming and so obviously happy to have that little bundle of preciousness.

All in an instant you know the whole story. A red headed woman and a blonde haired man wanted a child, and have come from the states to China to find their daughter. The daughter looks otherwise healthy and chipper, but for whatever reason, has no Chinese parent able or willing to deal with her, cleft-lip or for what ever other reason.

So here we 4 are in an Elevator, and instantly I know that they needed her and she needed them and they are now complete; a Family, a wonderful family. Bye little sweetheart I waved as I exited, and her eyes followed me as I left. Hard to know who was the luckiest in that Elevator this morning. Probably all 4 of us equal.

Three weeks? Seriously? I was at handbell practice at church two days later. Granted I had a gauze pad taped under my nose for any leakage, but I never really got all 'colorful.' And ain't that pulling of the packing great about 5 days later? Gives one a greater appreciation for what the mummies went through when they had their brains pulled out by their nostrils.

I guess I was lucky. Plus I don't make a very good patient. I could not stand being stuck in the house a moment longer - looks be damned. I was gonna go whack some bells around and get all that aggression out.

My damage was caused by a hockey stick being broken against my upper jaw. Yes, my head "won", at age 14, no idea how. My septum popped down the middle like a mango. Surgery was under a "local", 12 years later. They removed it, reversed it, and replaced it. Then I went into the trading pits.... Thank you Bob Hope.

Funnily, I now know where to look for the scars of a "too good to be true" face.

Daddy, the golf daughter was born with a cleft palate (no lip or gums involved - she basically just had no palate at all) and it was always moving at the craniofacial center to see the pics that the docs had taken on Angel flights to some poorly served areas like the Philippines or Guatemala. It's a wonder what they can do for them now.

And it is sickening that any and all cleft issues are an acceptable reason in the UK for any trimester abortions paid for by their evil healthcare system. They strongly encourage aborting all cleft babies regardless of severity.

Funny think is they wouldn't have caught the daughters cause there was no external signs that anything was wrong. She just had what looked like the McDonald's arches in the roof of her mouth (nostils) where the palate should have been.

Three surgeries later and she was perfectly normal. An extra hole (actually a pharyngeal flap) in the back of her throat to assist with speech (totally normal) and a guaranteed call to the school at least annually by one freaked out teacher or another that she had 'injured herself in her mouth!!!'

Mel, mine was mostly internal for the septum - it was really minor - and they put holes in my sinus cavities (they called them window panes) to allow the upper and lower cavities to interact better. No more stuffy headaches and endless sinus infections.

But 10-15% of these window pane surgeries end up with a horrendous snoring issue. Guess how unlucky I was. You do NOT want to go anywhere with me unless you have a room at the other end of the complex. Or the next building over. ;)

If we are, would it be too much to ask that such plastic surgery would be sufficient to make her less ugly? We could start with her underbite...

I meant to ask you, Soylent about your reactions to recent events

My reaction is this: I never felt so afraid as when an Afghan had my back. A despicable and untrustworthy race of savages.

I was there for the last round of irrational Koran burning riots, but this set has taken on a distinctly different tone. I think the violence is carefully designed to strengthen the negotiating position of the Taliban, who have reportedly returned to the negotiating table.

My suggestion is to go full wrath of God on these people. Wipe them out. Barring that, arm everyone but the Pashtuns to the teeth, ask Dubai to freeze Karzai's bank accounts, haul ass and let them kill each other. Lots of servicemen and -women will get home just in time to find out their Tricare is being cut, and to cast a ballot that will actually be counted.

--I am so with you, Iggy, about drawn on eyebrows. There have been a multitude of written words about how she plucked them into pointed arches that made her look "angry," so the idea was to soften the arch into a more pleasant frame for her eyes.--

Pics I've seen look like they drew Lon Chaney's on her.
Maybe that's what Rick was getting at about her canines. :)

He can't send "dark funds" through Dubai, they'll "redirect it". It went through France, on its way to Switzerland. Guaranteed. Perhaps hit the Continent through Italy, maybe Cyprus (probably not because of the Russian presence), first, but it definitely went through France. Just a matter of finding out what the haircut was as it passed through.

I though pull Karzai's Dyncorp detail, but I'm working my to this solution, the notion that the assasin, the bastard, as Jethro Gibbs would put it, was likely the one who leaked the story to the 'right people', it seems like a Danish cartoon special, re Abu Laaban

Daddy, Montoya lost his brakes/steering or something during a rain delay and ran right into the backend of one of those spray/dryers and it blew the blower truck and his car all to hell. Jet fuel all over the track and they are now trying to clean the track for a restart.

BTW the hot ass was wrecked in the 2nd lap and sits in 38th or something like it. She looked good getting out of the car though.

Just clicked on some photo's of cleft lip repairs of young kids and it was great to see the positive results. I think my little Sweetheart from this morning is gonna' do just fine. Very heartening.

Thought it interesting that from my observation, LinSanity has not yet taken China by storm, but is slowly growing.

A mainlander in Hong Kong at the sports bar (yes Matt, Malone's used to be Mad Dogs), was into a heated conversation with an American bunch were trying to educate him on Lin, whom he had never heard about, and he refused to accept that the guy could have better B-ball skills than Yao Ming. But the next day the Hong Kong paper had a story about Yao Ming himself catching Linsanity and saying great stuff about him.

Checking in last night in Guangzhou (mainland China) , the gals behind the counter wanted to know how to pronounce my last name (Flynn), so I said say it like Jeremy Lin, and just put an "F" in front. They had no idea who he was or what I was talking about, so the guy behind the counter instantly popped up and told them about it.

Then when I jabbered with him I mentioned how Jeremy's family was from Taiwan, but he instantly came back with "Yes, but before Taiwan his family come from this province and that province so he is really mainland Chinese!."

I see from that Mosque story I linked that just the month previous the Chinese shot dead 7 Muslim's, so I'm thinking the latest angry bunch will have to form a queue and wait their turn. And yes we wuz both probly' racist:)

I keep pushing the daughter to get her degree and then go to flight school. She especially enjoys all asian cultures (she's an anime and munga enthusiast) and would have a blast. Plus she's an adrenaline junkie so flying would be the sort of job I can see her actually enjoying.

Looks like my travels are gonna be limited to Disney World again this year... makes trip #30 to WDW in 14 years. The daughter absolutely has to have at least one Disney trip a year. We used to do two or three a year in their 'off seasons,' but now with college, we're doing a longer one in May just before the K-12 schools get out. Did the same last year after graduation.

What 18/19 yo prefers a trip to Disney without alcohol than a trip to the Bahamas or Jamaica or anywhere else where they can get their booze on? And did I mention she's applying to do a semester at Disney College?

If she goes to flight school at Daytona maybe she could get her Disney fix out of her system. Or not. Her dream job is still Tinkerbell (zip line from the Castle to the ground) to start the fireworks show. We actually talked to casting and she's a half inch too tall but her weight is perfect - 95 lbs soaking wet. She was and is still so bummed.

Must think on this new angle of attack for career options...train in Daytona, play at Disney, fly for a living and play all over the world. Beats EPCOT all to hell.

Hey Casual Ob, my friend.
My youngest brother, is with the STATE dept, and he is responsible for the 17,000 US PEEPS left inside the KILL ZONE. He has NEVER been POLITICAL.
Until Obama screwed him and those left there.

“The Georgia Superior Court tried to pull a fast one. They initially refused to file our Petition for Appeal. They claimed that our papers lacked two dollars for the two motions that were included along with our petition. We DID include the $213.50 filing fee for the petition, but they were going to sit on our documents and not file any of them, in part because of the missing $2.

The Superior Court’s clerk’s office made several other excuses as to why our petition couldn’t be filed. I won’t bore you with the details. Suffice to say they tried several excuses, none of which reflect normal operating procedures for any court I’ve heard of. Each time I explained why their reason didn’t make any sense under the law or court rules, they moved on to another excuse. After being transferred, placed on hold, hung up on, and argued with, they finally agreed to file the petition, but still refused to file the motions until they got their $2. In my experience as an attorney, including being temporarily admitted in 4 states outside Tennessee, and admitted to practice at every level of Federal and State courts, this is unheard of.

To top off our little story, the Georgia Superior Court didn’t contact our office to tell us that there was a problem with our filing. They just sat on our petition and emergency motion. Had we not called to verify that our petition was filed we would have missed tomorrow’s filing deadline. (This is why we call to verify filings.) The $2 was personally delivered today and the emergency motions are now filed.

One of those motions is an Emergency Motion for Stay and Preliminary Injunction prohibiting the Georgia Secretary of State from including candidate Barack Obama on the Georgia Presidential Primary ballot. Read the filing on our website. Quoting from the motion,

“should this Court incorrectly deny this motion it would confirm that the judicial branch is now unwilling to enforce the clearest and most basic requirements of the U.S. Constitution. Harm to Petitioner that would result from such incorrect refusal to grant this motion represents nothing less than the loss of our constitutional form of government for all Americans.“

After running the dirtiest campaign ever against Newt Gingrich in Florida, Mitt Romney was whining to Sean Hannity tonight about a supposedly unfair ad that Santorum is running against him in Michigan. Wow!

Creepy 'n repulsive, fat slob Michael Moore told Rachel Maddow tonight that he has just organized Operation Hilarity in Michigan to get slimy Democrats like himself to turn out in droves to vote for Santorum tomorrow, for no other reason than to hopefully humiliate Mitt Romney in his home state. The ends justify the means with his kind.

This upcoming election is gonna be a beaut, let me tell you.

Hey Gus, wazzop, dude? I remember all of your stories about your brothers, two of them as I recall. Yes? No?

Actually, I had to Google it to satisfy my curiosity as to if there was such a word, or if Stephanie had misspelled another word, which just goes to show that you gossipy yentas here have reached depths of depravity with which I've never been acquainted. Edifying, but in the category of crass words which I won't be adding to my own vocabulary.